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Contra Mundum Press

Some of the good people at Hyperion, the journal of the Nietzsche Circle, have begun a new publishing venture: Contra Mundum Press. Their first project is a new translation of the Gilgamesh epic by Stuart Kendall; it should be ready next month. In December, CMP is planning to release the first English language translation of Nietzsche’s “Greek Music Drama.” Their list of future titles looks quite promising, and it’s always great to see a new indie publisher making a go of it in an era where print books are being eulogized (with no small level of hyperbole) on what seems to be a weekly basis.

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The editors of Hyperion, the online art journal with a global readership of over 20,000 people per year, are proud to announce the inauguration of a new book-publishing venture: Contra Mundum Press.

Contra Mundum Press is dedicated to the value and the indispensable importance of the individual voice. Since 2006, Hyperion has been a forum for the exploration of such singularity in thought and vision. The same uncompromising ethos and vision guides Contra Mundum Press.

Through the publication of new texts by distinctive contemporary thinkers from all fields of the life of the mind as well as out-of-print titles from innovators of the past, Contra Mundum Press has been organized to demonstrate that the foundation of thought, and of the freedom and the efficacy of thinking, is not in the mash-up of the mob or the eviscerated diversion of social media but in the personal vision, and in the courage required to create it and to share it.

Against the trite clamor resounding in the public sphere about the death of the book and the dearth of readers, Contra Mundum Press believes that the community of thoughtful, incisive, critically minded readers has always been a minority. Nevertheless, such a faction is always a power in and of itself. And so Contra Mundum Press has been created, dedicated to those who practice and pursue probing, original, disquieting thought and its articulation. Those who still value the book as a physical object will find in all of our volumes the same beauty, excellence, and elegance of design that Hyperion has been noted for.

Contra Mundum Press will be publishing titles from all the fields in which the genius of the age traditionally produces the most challenging and innovative work: poetry, novels, theatre, philosophy — including philosophy of science and of mathematics — criticism, and essays. Our first publication will be a new translation of Gilgamesh by the noted translator Stuart Kendall. Other volumes include the first translation into English of Nietzsche’s “Greek Music Drama,” W. J. Bate’s Negative Capability, selected poems by Georg Trakl, and Elio Petri’s Writings on Cinema and Life.

For the complete list of forthcoming publications, please visit our website. To be added to our mailing list, send your name and email address to: info@contramundum.net